Does anyone run a craft based business from home cakes/gift hampers

[bigeyes]

I have toyed with the idea of doing bits and bobs to work from home to top up my part time income from two days work. I dont need to but feel I 'want something' for me. I have considered:

Making and selling cakes - you are allowed to do this on an occasional basis from home via carboots

Selling stuff on ebay - gifts watever I get from wholesale section and breaking it down

Preparing gift hampers and selling them on line and to local area.

I know its tough time and I have a business bakground so know basis of whats involved in setting up for Tax etc but what are your thoughts?

Does anyone do any of the above?

Well, I have made the following today:
1 x lemon drizzle tray bake
1 x Madeira cake
2 x chocolate tray bakes
48 cupcakes
56 mini meringues

and got my posters ready for my cake sale on Saturday. Also going to sell duck eggs.

Just need to defrost the other cakes tomorrow and then ice them all! Once I have got this out of the way I will be thinking about doing something a bit more serious.

Well thats very impressive Maple - have you done this before as thats a lot of cakes to sell? Or are you just going for it?

I never rung council but DH has agreed I can have a very small lump sum to do sample baskets. I feel I need to set up website, the easiest way is ebay but you have to have sold so many things to qualifiy. Its all a challenge

DH is being very generous so well done you!

Look forward to hearing more about your hampers.

It's true I have had a cake fest here today and done loads and loads of washing up with it! The idea of the large amounts of smalll cakes is to sell them on plates of 5. It's a charity table top sale and I have a feeling there may be pressure to donate some of the proceeds but then table is only a fiver so can't be too bad. I reckon I am only going to make about £20 profit after buying all the butter etc. Got the idea that small cakes will sell better than large cakes which I will have to charge about £4.50 for.

More of an experiment really and the DCs are really looking forward to it!

Hi bigeyes,

Personally I always hold stock because it means you can deliver quickly, and that's an important selling point when you're dealing with male customers, lol (they're always ordering last minute).

Doing something locally is a lovely idea.

Eventually it's worth registering yourself as a sole-trader. Then you can get wholesale rates for your raw materials.

A basic business card and a website (you can do this yourself in an afternoon) will give you more confidence (it's good to have a business e-mail account). fasthosts do very simple packages with DIY website creator tools.

businesslink will have info on the technicalities of setting your company entity up.

I want to set up a simple one page website but need a few hours to spare to sit and work out how to do it, not much chance with dd(4) and ds(22 months) about! I will do it one day

I've just renewed my add on gumtree and changed a few words about after my research last week.

Fingers crossed that helps.

I'm also coming up with a list of places to send a mailshot to(personalised as i've heard that's better) then i'll get round to writing them all up/printing and sending next week, as it's half term it maywell take all week

Oh its all busy since since my last post - Its great knowing there are kindred spirits out there 'doing it'

I have a contact who has a wide social network and has said I can do a afternoon tea style party to sell gifts, ive done party plan selling before with bodyshop - and I did this when preg and did quite well!
But she does want to see samples first so....

Yesterday I got call back from business link and I have my first appointment with start up mentor in just over a week!!!!

I have searched out some more suppliers via google and have many possibles saved in favourites. I've looked into back accounts and found an Abbey one that is free for life and think it might fit my requirements.

I have spoke to IT technichan and he says he can set me up a website (he was recommended my another member of staff) for up to £200 depends on what I want - I know this is cheap. I have decided to go wit PAYPAL to accept cards per transaction is more but its very easy to set up as opposed to apply and have merchant banking equipment and facilities installed. - this all for future

Today I have been out bought baskets and gifts to make up samples including all the pretty easter stuff for kids. This has cost me more than online trade prices but I need them done for next week to show people.

I have been making all sorts of notes on paper!

Maple, hope it went well and Eddas, hang in their and good luck with 'doing it'

Sorry this is terribly cheesey but I have got that 'sisters are doing it for themselves' song in my head!!!

Happy trading ladies

Dubh - thanks for your advice re stock. It feels like chicken and egg at moment!

56 Maple, 56 Maple!!!!!

P.S. I do these posts very quick and will endevour to check my business literature sp and grammar a lot better

Hi all!

Cake sale was quite successful and has given me useful ideas for another time ie large cakes sell better than small cup cakes. I thought it would be the other way around. Also may try another type of sale - this was a table top sale in the main hall of our town which has a quite geriatric mature demographic. Need younger people with kids who all want chocolate and don't mind splashing out. Still, as I say, it was a learning experience.

Think I want to crack on with the Personal Assistant business next week and feel really encouraged by you Eyes. You really are steaming ahead!! Very very impressed with you Eddas too and your progress and feel that you will both be doing really well very very soon.

My ideas still seem very woolly and vague at the moment and think I will be making some notes as you have done to try and formulate what I can provide. I want to be the person that can arrange a plumber, pet sit, organise party food, get dry cleaning organised, get garden made over etc and do alot of this through contacts I have locally and sell it to those that don't have time to organise it themselves. Do you think this is a goer? Obviously this will probably only appeal to professionals but feel I could adapt it to new mums or older people who just need a hand. I will steer very clear of cleaning and domestic stuff but could try and find a cleaner if one is required.

I could also adapt this service to include office admin if necessary but I am not 100% sure I want to go down this route?

Your feedback would be very much appreciated.
I also have other mad ideas such as a juice bar or cheese shop but want to put these on the back burner until I have capital and the economy is in better shape before taking the risk!

There seems to be two revenue streams here Maple - re VA thing, I mean as it is service based there muxt e very little capital outlay and therefore less risk which is great. I am all for making use of contacts- its suprising what a good chat and a word here and there can open up.

Maybe make a list of possible domestic stuff (exc cleaning) and problems and your solutions through your skills and contacts. Then the same for VA admin aimed at business.corporate customers.

You could test one out and leave the other to expand upon later or if the first one doesnt have demand.

Maybe mailshot target market keeping it small and local to see what comes back for the admin thing.

Glad you learnt from your cake sale and havnt had to eat too many leftover!

I have just been looking at more suppliers on-line.

Best of british!

Hi Big Eyes

Thanks for hints on VA/PA stuff. I think the key is finding the clients as you say and then I will be away. Also can hopefully control how big this gets (may not be an immediate concern ).

On your hampers - are you looking for wholesalers on line? Curious as to how it all works. Are there many about? Prices good?

Big eyes - have you seen thread tonight where a MNer wants hamper for a 12 year old at boarding school.

I am not even going to try and do a link but if you search under 'hampers for children' then I am sure you'll get it.

just an idea

you could do allsorts of different hampers, along the lines of the 'nappy cake' people do when you have a baby, you could do a new home one with useful items in. My mum did a box of things like salt and pepper, dishcloths, washing powder, more I suppose for a first home, but you could do a similar thing for going to uni, or allsorts of other things really.

Hope that wasn't a daft suggestion

here's the hamper thread

Bravo Eddas!!

Oh - me and DS (I let hime stay up!) went to bed at 10pm and I missed all the sales action, how kind and supportive of your both maple and eddas.

Yes I have been looking at wholesalers - but these tend to be listings and require a subscription) so I started looking at importers for italian and spanish foods. I have loads of homebased or small businesses that produce soap or honey and jams etc. It is better to buy direct to protect your margin. I will still need to go to a wholsalers at some point.

I am keeping an eye for trade fares.

Eddas I have a massive list of all the vairations I could do, and thats on it so NO its wasnt a silly suggestion. I only have a coule of bits of sample stock, hoping to get some fancy chocs to day for my Easter ones.

x

Oh I cant help thinking a I am going to end up delivering my mailshot myself (costs - think of the calories girls!

Hi girls -can I join in??

I'm halfheartedly trying to pick up more work. Dropped a few clients at the beginning of Dec and haven't got back into the swing of things yet.

There's a big event at the NEC (soon I think)that has loads of wholesalers for all sorts of trades - housey things, craft things etc. You might find some kind of unique things to add to your portfolios??

What kind of charges were you thinking of for VA work?

I'm considering offering a cleaning service using organic/natural type stuff. I can charge £10 an hour - which I know is half what I normally earn. But I can fit it n easily round school (finishes at 12pm) and is a kind of no brainer type work. iykwim.

My friend used to do this and picked up all sorts of other work as a spin off. Dog walking, sitting, house de cluttering etc. Virtually no outlay and some can be cash in hand(shhh!)

Hi Tracey K and .......welcome!

What sort of thing were you doing until the end of December?

I don't know what to charge for VA stuff or PA stuff - would like to charge more than £10 per hour. All depends how my business works out though.

I don't know if it will be more of a local service offered to people willing to pay that sort of money or would be more of a concierge service where I could take in hand all their birthday present, Xmas present shopping, holiday booking type of 'lifestyle' management. Want to charge alot more for this and move amongst the lawyer/senior professional types ?

When I have finished hair braiding my daughter which I will try and do without exploding and as a nice mummy I will be calling Business Link to get me started. I have been saying this for a good week now and really need to get on!!!

Big Eyes - I go to Italy a few times a year (Tuscany) if that is any use to you. Know of people making honey, producing olives???

I was doing financial type stuff - management accounts/payroll etc. But the travelling was a pia and since ds finishes school at 12 till Oct this year - I couldn't commit to any more than a couple of hours a day - most of which was driving!

I don't know what a VA would charge - whether it's a set price for a bit of work or an hourly rate. I have found lawyers to be the tightest people I know though!!

Spring Fair is what the NEC thing is called I think

Tracey - if I do go down the VA route you are the sort of person I could pass the numbers type work on to????

Indeed - or eddas - she does the same thing I think.

Dog walking seems v. lucrative too - £8 per dog per walk. I meet a girl that takes 5 dogs a time, 4 times a day, 5 days a week! Thats almost £40k a year - and keeps fit too!

Though with our scottish weather - it's a hard earned £40k!!

Hi welcom tracyK!

Yes the I could goto Spring fair - I would have to take DS in pushchair - is this doable - he would be ok for a couple of hours with a lunch break halfway through! I could just whip round and get names and samples (oh freebies?)

Maple - make the call today!

Tracy - cleaning is great for east start up and I think it would be a gos opportunity to pick up on the extras for household lifestyle management.

Back to cleaning - I'm halfway through then I m off to bank and try to find local handmade chocs?

OK - called Bus Link and an advisor is to get back to me in the next 2 days. Yay.

I have decided that my business needs to have different levels of service.

Domestic/Standard - for all the dog walking, pet sitting, gardening kind of stuff at a more reasonable rate

Executive - more of a lifestyle management service which is more bespoke to clients needs and costs more

Business - which is admin work for your business.

Hopefully I can be flexible to start with and see what I am best at and where the demand is etc.

On trade fairs, the Spring Fair was a couple of weeks ago I think. I heard it was dead quiet.

One that's coming up in April is the Natural & Organic show in London. That was very good last year. And Top Drawer is good, but has just passed. I'm not sure if there is another in the Summer.

I thought I'd post this link.www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpindustry/giftware/giftware.html

It's the British Library guide to information resources on the giftware industry. Scroll down to the bottom for internet links (the rest need to be accessed from the BL reading rooms at St Pancras).

The different trade associations might have smaller local trade fairs, and there are directories of wholesale suppliers.